Shloka 24
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall
रुक्मपुड्खैश्न सम्पूर्णा रुधिरौघपरिप्लुता । उत्तमान्जैश्व शूराणां भ्राजमानै: सकुण्डलै:,सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बाणोंसे वहाँकी भूमि भरी हुई थी। रक्तकी धाराओंमें डूबी हुई थी। शूरवीरोंके कुण्डल-मण्डित तेजस्वी मस्तकों, हाथियोंके विचित्र झूलों, पताकाओं, चामरों, हाथीकी पीठपर बिछाये जानेवाले कम्बलों, इधर-उधर पड़े हुए उत्तम वस्त्रों, हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंके चमकीले आभूषणों, केंचुलसे निकले हुए सर्पोके समान पैने और पानीदार खड़गों, भाँति-भाँतिके कटे हुए धनुषों, शक्ति, ऋष्टि, प्रास, कम्पन तथा अन्य नाना प्रकारके आयुधोंसे आच्छादित हुई रणभूमिकी अद्भुत शोभा हो रही थी
sañjaya uvāca |
rukmapuṅkhaiś ca sampūrṇā rudhiraughapariplutā |
uttamāṅgaiś ca śūrāṇāṁ bhrājamānaiḥ sakuṇḍalaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The ground there was completely covered with arrows whose golden fletchings gleamed, and it was flooded with torrents of blood. It was strewn with the severed heads of heroic warriors, shining with their earrings—so that the battlefield, though dreadful in its violence, appeared with a grim, astonishing splendor. The passage underscores the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: martial glory and outward brilliance are inseparable here from mass suffering and the tragic cost of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral paradox of war: what appears ‘splendid’ in martial terms (golden arrows, shining ornaments) is inseparable from horror (blood-flooded ground, severed heads). It invites reflection on the cost of violence and the fragility of worldly glory.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath/scene of intense fighting: the battlefield is carpeted with golden-fletched arrows, drenched in blood, and littered with the earring-adorned heads of fallen heroes.